Conveyer system



1943- w. H. ROBINSON ETAL 2,308,027

CONVEYER SYSTEM Filed Jan. 20, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l Invent 01%5: William H. Robinson, Jasper E. Anderson,

bag jv mwq Their Att ornqg.

Jan. 12, 1943. w H RQBINSON ETAL 2,308,027

CONVEYER SYSTEM Filed Jan. 20, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventors: William H. Robinson, Jasper E.Ander'son, by W cTAY -ZM Their- Abtorney.

Patented Jan. 12, 1943 CONVEYER SYSTEM William H. Robinson, Schenectady, N. Y., and Jasper E. Anderson, Saugus, Mass, asslgnors to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application January 20, 1%)40, Serial No. 314,830

4 Claims.

Our invention relates to conveyer systems for rod-like articles, and more particularly to certain improvements in conveyer systems that particularly adapt them for use in transferring flux coated electrodes from an extrusion machine through certain processing steps employed in their manufacture.

It is an object of our invention to provide improved means for feeding, aligning and spacing rod-like articles parallel to one another as they pass through a processing mechanism or mechanlsms.

Further objects of our invention will become come apparent from the following description oi a conveyer system embodying our invention.

Such a conveyer system for use in electrode manufacture is illustrated in the attached drawings, Figs. 1 and 2 of which are top and side views thereof; Figs. 3 and 4 of which are end and side detail views of the mechanism employed for changing the lengthwise movement of'a succession of electrodes into sidewise movement thereof; and Figs. 5, 6 and '7 of which are side, end sectional (along lines Ii-6 of Fig. 5) and plan views respectively of a transfer mechanism forming part of the conveyer system.

The mechanism shown in Figs. 3 and 4 forms the subject matter of our divisional application Serial No. 385,070, filed March 25, 1941.

One of the most convenient ways of applying heavy coatings to arc welding electrodes is through the agency of an extrusion machine. The cores of the electrodes are supplied to the extrusion machine in continuous succession with their ends abutting one another and as they pass through the extrusion machine a shell of the coating material is applied to them. This coating material connects the successive rods and the first operation of the conveyer system illustrated in the attached drawings is to separate the electrodes lengthwise of one another after they leave the nozzle of the extrusion machine. Thereafter the conveyer system changes the lengthwise movement of .the coated electrodes into a sidewise movement and transfers the electrodes in parallel spaced aligned relationship through a stripping machine which removes a, portion of the flux coating from their ends after which the system conveys the electrodes into an oven where they are baked to set and harden their coatings. The coatings on the electrodes before being set and hardened by baking are soft and plastic and a satisfactory conveyer system must be capable of handling these freshly coated electrodes without destroying or marring the uniformity of their coatings. The conveyer system illustrated in the attached drawings successfully accomplishes this result.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the coated electrodes are discharged from the nozzle III of an extrusion machine in end-to-end succession lengthwise of the longitudinal groove II in the endless belt I2 forming part of the conveyer system. By lengthwise grooving of belt I2, the electrodes are retained along the central portion of its article-carrying surface without using auxiliary guiding arrangements which might mar or destroy the uniformity of the flux coatings which are in a plastic condition as the electrodes leave nozzle ID of the extrusion machine. The peripheral speed of belt I2 is greater than the speed at which the electrodes issue from nozzle I0 of the extrusion machine, and consequently, this belt operates to lengthwise separate the electrodes as they are discharged thereon.

Belt I2 is spaced from a second endless belt I 3 having a travel such that a portion of its article-carrying surface is transverse to the discharge end of belt I2 and the electrodes are transferred from belt I2 to belt IQ through the agency or a third endless belt II having a travel such that a portion of its article-carrying surface is inclined to and extends across belt I3 in/line with belt I2. The arrangement is such that electrodes discharged from belt I2 engage the inclined surface of belt I4, strike a target or abutment I5 on the side of belt I3 opposite the discharge end of belt I2 and, after their lengthwise movement has thus been arrested, fall upon belt I3 in side-by-side relationship. The spacing of the electrodes on belt I3 depends, of course, upon the relative speeds of belts I2 and I3. Means may be provided for adjusting the relative speeds of these belts.

As the electrodes travel along belt I3, they engage a pair of inclined guides I6 which are oscillated transversely of the belt by an oscillating mechanism enclosed within a box Il. These guides by engaging the ends of the electrodes on belt I3 align the electrodes before they are discharged from belt I3 into a mechanism I8 which transfers them from belt I3 onto a pair of parallel conveyer chains' I9.

Each chain I9 is provided with longitudinally spaced projections which are aligned with the projections of the other chain and the electrodes are placed in parallel relationship by the transfer mechanism I8 on these chains between their projections. These chains transport the electrodes to a stripper 20 which removes a portion of the end coating of each electrode as it passes therethrough. The electrodes are ,then discharged from the stripper into another mechanism 2| which transfers them onto another pair of parallel chains 22 constructed and arranged in the same way as chains l9 for carrying the electrodes into and .through an oven 23 which bakes the coatings thereon.

Except for the parallel chains 22 and the transfer mechanism 2| operated thereby, the various parts of the conveyer system illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 are driven by a motor 24. This motor is connected through a variable speed mechanism 25, such as the Reeves drive, to a main shaft 26. This shaft extends through a speed reducer 21 having an output shaft and pulley 28 which is connected by a belt 29 to a driving pulley 39 which is on the same shaft 3| as the driving drum 32 for belt l3 which also passes over idler drums 33, 34 and 35. Drum 34 is adjustably supported in a frame 36 and serves as a belt tightener.

Shaft 26 is also connected through a transmission including a belt 31, gears 38, a shaft 39 and a belt 40 with a shaft 4| wich drives one of the pulleys 42 over which belt I 2 passes. Shaft 4| is connected through gears 43 with a shaft 44 which is connected to and operates the oscillating mechanism for the vibrating aligning guides l6 above referred to. Shaft 26 also drives through a transmission including belt 3], gears 38, shaft 39, a belt 45 and a flexible shaft 46, a driving pulley 41 for belt l4. The flexible shaft 46 may be replaced by rigid shafts connected by a universal coupling.

Shaft 26 is also connected to chains l9 through a transmission including a belt 48 and the input shaft 49 of a differential 58 having output shafts 5| and 52 connected through chains 53 and 54 to the driving shafts 55 and 56 on which the drive wheels or sprockets for chains H! are located. Drive shaft 55 for chains l9 also operates through a transmission including a belt 51 to rotate a paddle wheel 58 forming part of the transfer mechanism I8. Drive shaft 56 for chains |9 also operates through suitable transmissions to propel the belts 59 and 60 forming part of the stripper mechanism 28. Belt 68 is propelled by driving one of its pulleys 6| through a. transmission including sprockets and a chain 62 and belt 59 is propelled by driving one of its pulleys 63 through a, gear transmission 6. The belts 59 and 60 travel at slightly different speeds so that as the electrodes are discharged from the parallel chains l9 onto the belt 68, they are rotated about their longitudinal axes as they pass between belts 59 and 68. It will be noted that the directions of travel of a the chains where they cross the'belt 68 are such that transfer of elec-- trodes from between projections on chains I9 to the belt 60 occurs without any interference from these projections.

In the stripper 28 a cylindrical wire brush 64 engages and removes from the ends of the electrodes a portion of their coatings as they pass between belts 58 and 68. This brush is driven by a motor 65 connected thereto through a transmission including belt 66. The axis of rotation of brush 64 is parallel to the paths of travel of the electrodes between the belts 59 and 60 and may be placed at an angle to the direction in which the electrodes are moving so as to remove any desired length of coating on the ends of the electrodes without having to set the brush so that its circumference extends below the thickness of the coatings on the electrodes. This latter adjustment may be used, however, in which case the longitudinal axis of the brush is set parallel to the direction of travel of the electrodes.

In the arrangement illustrated, the ends of the electrodes which are clamped in electrode holders for support and supply of welding cur rent thereto are cleaned by brush 64. It is, of course, apparent that the arcing end of the electrode may also be cleaned by a brush suitably mounted although in the particular conveyer system illustrated, the impact of the electrodes on the target or abutment I5 is sufficient to remove coating material from the end of the electrode that makes arcing engagement with the work in performing an arc welding operation.

Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged views of that portion of the conveyer system which lengthwise separates the electrodes and changes their lengthwise movement into sidewise movement. It is this part of the conveyer system that forms the subject matter of our divisional application Serial No. 385,070, filed March 25, 1941. As shown in these views, belt I 2 passes about pulleys 42, 61 and 68. As previously pointed out, pulley 42 is the driving pulley. These pulleys are supported in a framework 69 which is pivoted about the driving shaft 4| for the pulley 42. The inclination of the article-carrying surface of belt l2 relative to nozzle ID of the extruding machine is controlled by a support provided with set screws 10 which engage the free end of the swinging frame 69. The pulley 68 is supported between two arms pivoted intermediate their ends to a portion of the frame 69 and set screws 12 located in the frame engage these arms on the sides opposite the pivot from the pulley 68 so as to apply the desired tension to belt l2. As previously noted, this belt is provided with a lengthwise groove for retaining the electrodes thereon. It is preferably made of some soft material such as sponge rubber and is of suitable thickness to provide a groove which will effectively retain the electrodes deposited therein.

As also shown in Figs. 3 and 4, transfer belt I 4 passes over its driving pulley 4'! and about idler pulleys l3 and 14. These pulleys are mounted, on shafts supported by a framework 15 which is pivotally supported on a shaft 16 whose ends are mounted in bearings 11 which are located for vertical adjustment on legs 18 and 19 of the main frame of the conveyer system. Frame I5 is held in adjusted position by bolts 88 which pass through slotted brackets 8| mounted on the horizontal members 82 and 83- of the main frame of the conveyor system. By reason of the method of supporting frame 15 in the main frame of the conveyor system, it is apparent that the position and angularity of that portion of belt 14 which travels across belt l3 may be suitably adjusted to receive electrodes discharged from belt l2 and direct them against abutment |5 from which they drop onto belt |3 after their lengthwise motion has been arrested.

The transfer mechanism l8 previously referred to in describing Figs. 1 and 2 is illustrated in detail in Figs. 5, 6 and 7. This mechanism and the parts associated therewith form the subject matter claimed herein.

At the discharge end of belt l3, the electrodes fall upon inclined guides 84 and are transferred to the discharge end of these guides by the flexible rubber flaps of paddle wheel 58 which is driven by sprockets and chain 51 from the shaft 55. A cylinder 85 having in its periphery parallel slots which pass in succession past the discharge ends of guides 84 transfers the electrodes from these guides to the parallel chains I! located on each side of it. Cam surfaces 86 associated with the periphery of the cylinder in,

the vicinity of the discharge end of guides 84 ejects all but one electrode from each of the slots therein.

Chains l9 are directed in paths of travel past the ends of the cylinder 85 from below to above the slots therein so that the projections on these chains pick up one at a time the electrodes supplied by the slotted cylinder. The paths of travel of these chains are determined by the adjustment of pulleys 81 mounted in the ends of one of the arms of cranks 88 whose other arm is supported between set screws 89. Cranks 88 are pivotally supported on shafts 90 and by adjusting the set screws 89, these cranks may be moved to position the pulleys 81, and consequently, the chains I! which pass over these pulleys. A further adjustment is provided by mounting the support for the cranks 88 on a plate 9i which is adjustable lengthwise of the frame of the conveyer system through the agency of set screws 92.

The slotted cylinder 85 is propelled through gearing connecting its shaft 93 with shaft 55 which is driven by chains 53 from the differential 50. The last gear 94 in this gear train is adjustably connected through a spider 95 to the shaft 93. As indicated in the drawing, adjustments are provided so that the spider 95 may be rotatably adjusted relative to the gear 94 with which it is connected. By reason of this adjustment, the slots in the cylinder 85 may be made to match with the spaces between the projections on the chains IS. The gear transmission between drive shaft 55 and shaft 93 of the cylinder 85 is such that the peripheral speed of the cylinder is the same as the speed of travel of chains l9 as they pass from below to above the slots in the cylinder. Chains 19 are synchronized with one another by their drive wheels or sprockets mounted on shafts 55 and 55 so that their projections are aligned with one another to hold the electrodes supported on the chains in parallel relationship.

It is thus apparent that the construction and organization of the transfer mechanism shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 is such as to receive electrodes that have been aligned on belt l3 and feed them in parallel spaced relationship between the projections on chains IS without in any way marring or indenting the plastic coatings thereon.

As previously noted, the same kind of a transfer mechanism 2| is employed for transferring the electrodes from stripper 20 to the parallel chains 22 by means of which the electrodes are traversed through the oven in which they are baked.

Chains I9 by means of which the electrodes are fed in aligned, parallel, spaced positions to the stripper 20 are propelled, as pointed out above, by sprockets or driving wheels mounted on drive shafts 55 and 55 which are connected through differential 50 to the main shaft 25 of the conveyer system. 'By using this differential drive, chains I 9 are driven at points dividing their length in substantially equal portions, and consequently, the amount of power applied to the chains at suitably divided so that the strength of the chains or the number of driving wheels employed may be kept at a minimum. Furthermore, by

their driving points is employing the differential drive, difficulties from back-lash in the chains are minimized. The direction of travel of chains l9 where they cross belt 50 of the stripper is determined by idler pulleys 96 and 91. Idler pulleys 9B adjustably mounted on the main frame of the conveyer system are also provided for tensioning the chains.

In place of belts l2, l3 and I l and chains is and 22, any suitable endless flexible conveyer of similar construction may be employed. We prefer to employ a chain of the construction illustrated and described in our United States Letters Patent 2,144,547, granted January 17, 1939, and assigned to the same assignee as this invention.

Our invention has been described in connection with a particular conveyor system particularly suited for conveying flux coated electrodes through certain processing steps employed in their manufacture. It is, of course, apparent that other conveyer systems embodying its characteristics features are suited for operation on other rod-like articles which are conveyed through suitable operations incident to their processing. Many variations and modifications of our invention will occur to those skilled in the art in view of the above description of one embodiment of our invention, and it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such variations and modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of our invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A conveyer system comprising an inclined guide, a cylinder having in it periphery parallel slots which pass in succession past the discharge end of said guide as said cylinder is rotated, endless flexible conveyers on each side of said cylinder, each of said conveyers being provided with spaced projections for locating articles thereon, means for propelling said conveyers in unison with projections on one of said conveyers opposite to and aligned with of said conveyers, means for directing the paths of travel of said conveyers past the ends of said cylinder from below to above the slots therein, means for rotatably adjusting said cylinder relative to said conveyers so that corresponding projections' on said conveyers match with the ends of said slots in said cylinder as said conveyers travel from below to above said'slots, and means for traversing said conveyers and rotating said cylinder so that the speed of said conveyers is substantially the same as the slotted periphery of said cylinder where said conveyers pass from below to above the slots in said cylinder.

2. A- conveyer system comprising an endless belt, means for spacing rod-like articles side by side crosswise of said belt, vibrating guides on opposite sides of said belt for engaging the ends of said articles and aligning them on said belt, an inclined guide at the discharge end of said belt for receiving said aligned articles discharged from said belt, a cylinder having in its periphery parallel slots which pas in succession past the end of said guide as said cylinder is rotated, endless flexible conveyers on each side of said ,cylinder, each of said conveyers being provided with spaced projections for locating said articles thereon, means for propelling said conveyers in unison with projections on one of said conveyers opposite to and aligned with projections on the other of said conveyers, means for directing the paths of travel of said conveyers past the ends of said cylinder from below to above the slots thereprojections on the other.

; belt, means for spacing rod-like articles side by side crosswise of said belt, vibrating guides on opposite sides of said belt for engaging the ends of said articles and aligning them on said belt, an inclined guide at the discharge end of said belt for receiving said aligned articles discharged from said belt, a paddle wheel having flexible flaps engaging said articles on said guide, and feeding them in parallel relationship to the discharge end of said guide, a cylinder having in its periphery parallel slots which pass in succession past the end of said guide as said cylinder is rotated, means associated with the periphery oi said cylinder for ejecting all but one article from each of its slots as it passes by the discharge end of said guide, endless flexible conveyer on each side of said cylinder, each of said conveyers being provided with spaced projections for locating said articles thereon,'means for propelling ,"said conveyers in unison with projections on one of said conveyers opposite to and aligned with projections on the other of said conveyers, means .for directing the paths of travel of said conveyers past the ends of said cylinder from below to above the slots therein, means for rotatably adjusting said cylinder relative to said conveyers so that corresponding projections on said conveyers match with the ends of said slots in said cylinder as said conveyers travel from below to above said slots, and means for traversing said conveyers and rotating said cylinder so that the speed of said conveyers is substantially the same as the slotted periphery of said cylinder where said conveyers pass from below to above the slots in said cylinder.

4. A conveyer system comprising an endless belt, means ior spacing rod-like articles side by side crosswise of said belt, vibrating guides on opposite sides of said belt for engaging the ends of said articles and aligning them on said belt, an inclined guide at the discharge end of said belt for receiving said aligned articles discharged from said belt, a paddle wheel having flexible flaps engaging said articles on said guide and feeding them in parallel relationship to the discharge end of said guide, a cylinder having in its periphery parallel slots which pass in succession past the end of said guide as said cylinder is rotated, means associated with the periphery of said cylinder for ejecting all but one article from each of its slots as it passes by the discharge end of said guide, endless flexible conveyers On each side of said cylinder, each of said conveyers being providedwith spaced projections for locating said articles thereon, means including a power input shaft, driving wheels engaging said conveyers at points distributed along their length, and differential means connecting said power input shaft and said drivin wheels for propelling said conveyers in unison with projections on one of said conveyers opposite to and aligned with projections on the other of said conveyers, means for directing the paths of travel of said conveyers past the ends of said cylinders from below to above the slots therein, means for rotatably adjusting said cylinder relativ to said conveyers so that corresponding projections on said conveyers match with the ends of said slots in said cylinder as said conveyers travel from below to above said slots, and means for traversing said conveyers and rotating said cylinder so that the speed of said conveyers is substantially the same as the slotted periphery of said cylinder where said conveyers pass from below to above the slots in said cylinder.

WILLIAM H. ROBINSON. JASPER E. ANDERSON. 

